


Down Below

by MsChievous



Series: Whumptober 2020 [7]
Category: Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Americas arc, Could be Senkuu and Gen or Ukyo and Gen, Delayed Drowning, Drowning, Gen, I love both pairings, perseus - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26994592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsChievous/pseuds/MsChievous
Summary: Whumptober Day 13 - Delayed Drowning.During the trip to America, Gen finds himself flung overboard. But things don't get better when he's rescued...
Series: Whumptober 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949494
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	Down Below

**Author's Note:**

> hi yes I'm also a huuuge fan of Dr. Stone and Gen owns my entire soul. Expect more Gen whump in the future~

Gen Asagiri sighs as he leans against the railing at the back of the Perseus - the "poop deck” as Ryusui refers to it - watching the foam churning in a tail behind them. It’s mesmerizing in a way to see the stars and moon reflected against the dark waters. 

“Hey, Mentalist,” he jumps at the sounds of Senkuu’s voice cutting through his thoughts. He glances over at the scientist and smiles. “I’m gonna need your help down in my lab.”

Gen gives a dramatic sigh. “I suppose I could help you, Senkuu-chan. Allow me to enjoy the last few minutes of my freedom in peace~” 

Senkuu rolls his eyes. “Just don’t keep me waiting too long.”

As the scientist makes his way to the underbelly of the ship, a small smile flits across Gen’s face. He crosses his arms, leaning even more heavily against the railing. How different would things have been if he hadn’t lied to Tsukasa? If he had let the Kingdom of Science crumble before it had a chance to start?

Certainly travelling across oceans wouldn’t have been anywhere near a priority, and there was no chance Tsukasa would have cared to uncover the science through which humanity had been petrified. 

He had told Senkuu his heart had been changed because of the light bulb but in truth he had made his decision long before even meeting him.

He’s ripped out of his reverie by a sudden lurch that sends him slipping past the railing into empty air. He scrambles to grab onto the railing but he’s already past it, hitting the water before he really even has the chance to process what just happens. 

The pain from hitting the water from such a height is second in his mind to getting above it. He heard stories about people getting lost underwater, not knowing which way was up. Now he understood. There was no light, no sound, no sense of gravity. Still, he knew enough to watch which way the bubbles floated. He quickly righted himself and broke the surface, coughing and gasping for air.

The weight from his kimonos drag him down and he quickly kicks them and his shoes off. He momentarily regrets losing all the tricks he kept quite literally up his sleeves but there’s really no choice. He does his best to tread water and call for assistance, occasionally waving his hand in case that helped.

But still, the Perseus churned on. Panic starts to clog his throat but he merely swims forward a few strokes before calling out again. Surely someone will notice him soon….

Right?

* * *

Senkuu hisses, staring at what functioned as a clock in their boat. More than fifteen minutes had already passed since he had asked the mentalist to help him in the lab, but at this point it would be easier to do it himself. He had only wanted Gen for his steady and agile hands, but Francois was also quite capable in their own right, perhaps he should ask them…

Then again Gen was reliable to a fault He should probably check in to make sure everything was okay.

With a groan, he slips out of his lab and up the stairs above deck. A quick glance at the poop deck shows no sign of the mentalist. He scowls and looks around. “Hey, Nikki, have you seen Gen around here?”

The girl turns to look at him before she shakes her head. “I saw him last at the dining hall just after dinner. Sorry.”

Suika peeks out from behind her. “Is Mister Gen missing? Oh! Is he hiding? I bet he’s great at that.”

Senkuu smiles softly. “Why don’t you try to find him? I’m sure he’ll be impressed if you can.”

Even from inside the melon head, he can see Suika’s eyes light up. “Alrighty! Detective Suika is on the case! Just leave it to me!”

With that she prances off, pulling lids off barrels and peeking in nooks and crannies Senkuu didn’t even realize were there.

“I gotta go take watch,” Nikki interrupts, pointing to the crow’s nest. “Yo’s probably getting a bit impatient.”

Senkuu waves her off. “See if he’s seen him at all too.”

She gives him a thumbs up as she starts to climb the ladder.

Senkuu sighs. If Gen really was hiding, then he probably didn’t want to be found, but why would he hide? He could have just said no and been on his way. For all his faults, he really wasn’t the type to flake off.

“Mister Gen is reeeeeally good at hiding! I think he’s moving around cuz I checked _all_ the spots I know of, even the ones he can’t fit into, and he wasn’t in _any_ of them! Or maybe he found an even _better_ hiding spot.”

Senkuu furrows his brow. It seemed doubtful that the mentalist would care to explore the ship more than Suika, or think to look for hiding spaces in such cramped quarters. “Thanks,” he manages before heading below-deck.

He heads to the bedrooms, knocking on one door in particular.

“Come in,” a soft voice calls.

He peers in and sees Ukyo leaning over some fabric. The archer looks back at him with a smile. “Yuzuriha is teaching me how to sew. I figured it would be something nice to learn while we have all this time,” he explains. “How can I help you?”

“Have you heard Gen come downstairs?” Senkuu leans against the doorframe. 

Ukyo shakes his head. “You went up and down a couple times, same with Suika, and I think Francois. That’s all in the past hour. Why?”

“Can’t find him,” the scientist shrugs. “Not like him to hide away from responsibilities.” He meets Ukyo’s gaze and corrects, “responsibilities he’s already agreed to.”

Ukyo puts down the sewing supplies. “Yeah, that’s not really like him. “Where did you last see him?”

“On the poop deck, about a half hour ago. You think you can hear where he is?”

Ukyo shrugs. “Worth a shot, I figure.”

He leads the archer up to the poop deck and watches as he cocks his head from side to side. Then he freezes mid-step, head whipping to face the sea. “Shit!” He runs to the railing, and Senkuu’s heart drops into his chest. He hadn’t even _considered-_

His mind works quickly. The life boats seat three people each. They would need strong people to reach Gen quickly and give him CPR if necessary. Tsukasa is an obvious choice. Strong, and with modern medicinal training. Then another strong companion … Magma is another obvious choice, but perhaps too large with Tsukasa as well. So…

He lunges for the emergency bell right next to the captain’s quarters and clangs it several times. Before more than a few people have a chance to arrive, he’s already calling out orders. 

“Suika, Taiju, Yuzuriha, get the lifeboat ready. We need Tsukasa and Kohaku. Gen fell overboard and we need to get to him quickly.”

He ignores the gasps and chattering as everyone runs to their tasks. Tsukasa and Kohaku grip the sides of the lifeboat as it’s lowered down, taking off with incredible speed. His fingers clench around the railing as he allows himself a moment to breathe.

“We’ll need warm clothes and warm food for him when they rescue him,” he shouts. “Let’s go!”

* * *

Gen sputters as his head breaks over a wave. His arms and legs feel like lead, but still so cold it feels prickly. It’s barely all he can do to call out for help occasionally, but the Perseus is so far away now that even if Ukyo _was_ on watch, he might not be able to hear him over the crashing waves. 

Maybe… maybe he should just make it easy on himself. Pretending like he was going to get rescued would only be getting his hopes up. 

He’s still trying to talk himself down from the edge when he hears a faint clanging noise coming from the Perseus and his heart jumps in his throat. Was that the emergency bell? Could they have finally noticed he was missing?

The possibility solidifies his choice to stay afloat, cursing the waves that threatened to drag him under. He kicks desperately, wishing he had more to slough off to stay afloat but he’s already gotten rid of everything, he’s just running out of energy. 

He’s getting dunked under more and more often now and his lungs often burn before he finds his way back out. 

Soon, he doesn’t make it in time. He flounders desperately as his lungs ache for air and ribs feel like they’re going to explode, but his body gives up before his mind. 

What little air he was still holding is expelled in a burst of bubbles, and without even thinking, he heaves in a desperate breath.

It feels like he’s being suffocated. Which, in a way, he is. He can feel the weight of the water pressing all around him, filling his lungs, weighing him down. A strange calmness lulls his eyelids half-closed. Spots dance in front of his vision and he’s sure he hears Senkuu laugh as the spots rapidly overtake his vision, leaving him in a peaceful darkness.

* * *

Tsukasa’s back aches as he pulls the oars deep across the water. He wishes he could face the direction they’re going, but the blonde’s eyes are much better than his anyway. 

“He’s been under too long,” she hisses.

They renew their rowing, intenser than before. Tsukasa barely has time to blink before Kohaku leaps over the side of the boat into the waters below. He grips the edge of the boat impatiently. He needs to be ready to get Gen into the boat. Presuming she manages to find him, that is…

Just as he’s thinking that thought, Kohaku breaks the surface, holding an unconscious Gen in one arm and paddling the short distance to the boat in the other. They manage to lay him in the bottom of the boat easily, and Tsukasa jumps right into performing CPR. Kohaku watches him strangely as she rows back, but she says nothing.

Though it felt like an eternity to make it to the drowned mentalist, it seems to take almost twice as long to reach the boat again. Kohaku works around him to secure the life boat to the pulley system and soon they’re being lifted into the air.

The crew is crowding around at a distance, craning their necks to get a look at what’s going on. 

Gen’s quickly brought aboard and Tsukasa resumes the CPR. He’s not sure how long he’s been doing it but at this point, it almost seems like it’s too late.

“Harder, Tsukasa, you’re not compressing enough!” Senkuu chastises, “and you need to tilt the head back more for mouth-to-mouth.”

He resists the urge to take that as a jab at his own effectiveness and instead puts more force behind each compression. He feels a rib snap beneath his hands but he keeps going.

Just as he goes down to provide breaths, the mentalist shudders and starts coughing up seawater. The brute manages to scramble away and push him on his side as it seems he coughs up half the contents of the ocean, plus a little extra in the form of vomit.

Yuzuriha’s also by his side, draping what appeared to be a wool blanket over Gen’s bare frame, rubbing his arm as he throws up everything in his lungs and stomach, meanwhile, Ryusui waves away the crowd that gathered.

It seems that little disaster had been averted.

* * *

“So…” Gen manages as Senkuu and Taiju help him to his bed, “I have to say… rowning-day is _not_ on my list of favorite activities…”

“Always the joker,” the scientist groaned. “What even happened? I doubt you would go for a nighttime swim for shits and giggles.”

“I was leaning too much against the railing and slipped,” he offers a meager laugh, but no one joins in. “My own fault really. But I am certainly glad you found me. Even if I could do without the broken rib.” He clutches the inflamed area with a muffled grunt.

“Well, maybe that’ll be a good reminder not to be such an idiot in the future.”

Gen pouts. “You wound me, Senkuu-chan.” he lays back in bed, adjusting himself so his broken rib wouldn’t hurt as much. “That was all so exciting, I think I’m just going to sleep right here,” he murmurs, closing his eyes and allowing his breathing to deepen. The two others linger for a few moments before walking off, leaving him to drift off to sleep.

* * *

Ukyo wakes up to Tsukasa coming back from his watch. Things were still slightly tense between the two of them as neither one of them wanted to be the first one to broach such an uncomfortable subject, but there was a mutual understanding of “things worked out in the end, let’s ignore it”. 

He slips out of the room, ready for his own shift. He’s just passing Gen’s room when he hears a strange noise. It sounds like… raspy breathing?

He knocks cautiously, then slips the door open. Senkuu is not inside, but Gen…

The breathing sounds fast and labored. He creeps forward and shakes the mentalist’s shoulder. “Hey, wake up,” he mutters. 

Gen doesn’t stir, and adrenaline shoots through him. He’s heard of this before, in basic training, and he’s kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner. He sets himself over the mentalist, silently apologizing for potentially breaking more bones as he starts CPR.

Panic builds in his chest but he has a long history of pushing that down to a time when he can actually deal with it and it serves him well. Instead he rhythmically pumps out chest compressions and breaths, praying that this time it works.

Gen wakes up part way through, eyes bleary and unfocused, which only confirms Ukyo’s theory of secondary drowning. The mentalist coughs, water dribbling from the corner of his mouth, and the archer helps him to his side to drain it all. Hopefully for good this time.

“Mmm… wassup,” Gen mutters, eyes fluttering over to meet his. “Goo’ night,” he yawns, turning to flop back on his side. 

Ukyo grips his shoulder tight, keeping him from moving. “You need to stay up. Is Senkuu in his lab?” 

Gen pouts. “Yes… Why do I have to stay up? I’m tired…”

“Follow me.”

He leads the mentalist towards Senkuu’s lab. It’s not particularly far, but Gen still seems fairly out of it so they take it slow. When they finally arrive, the door is closed, which usually signifies that he doesn’t want to be disturbed, but this is probably something he’d want to know. So Ukyo takes a deep breath and knocks on the door.

There’s a quick shuffling before the door opens and an irritable-looking Senkuu pokes his head out. “What?” Then he takes stock of Ukyo’s concern and Gen’s dazedness. “Is something wrong?”

Ukyo nods. “He still had water in his lungs, so he was just a ticking time bomb until he drowned again. I listened and I think it’s all out but we should still have people watch him constantly for the next twenty-four hours.”

Senkuu furrows his brow in thought. “Yes, that is a good idea. I… I’ll take over for now, then we can pass him off to someone in the morning.”

“When are you going to sleep?” Ukyo raises an eyebrow.

“When I’m dead, most likely.”

The archer doesn’t give Senkuu the satisfaction of a pity-laugh. “Yuzuriha has early morning duty. You can ask her to take over for you when she gets up.”

Senkuu groans. “Yeah, I guess that’s a good idea… thanks. For catching all that.”

Ukyo smiles. “That’s my job.” He turns and pats Gen on the shoulder. “You need to stay awake for a bit longer yet, Gen. But you get to stay with Senkuu. Isn’t that nice of him?”

Gen groans. “He’s gonna make me woooork though!” 

“Oh little old me?” Senkuu grins. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”


End file.
